Sarah Ehekircher – Whose Story of Abuse Is Told in Chapter 3 of the New Book ‘UNDERWATER’ – Wins Key Round of Litigation in Her Case Against USA Swimming and Coach Scott MacFarland

by Irvin Muchnick

Under the headline “Court Denies USA Swimming, Scott MacFarland’s Motions to Dismiss in Sarah Ehekircher Case,” the swimming news site SwimSwam leads: “A trial seems imminent.” See https://swimswam.com/court-denies-usa-swimming-scott-macfarlands-motions-to-dismiss-in-sarah-ehekircher-case/. (SwimSwam says “Colorado District Court”; they mean U.S. District Court in Colorado.)

We have uploaded a facsimile of the magistrate judge’s decision at http://muchnick.net/ehekirchercasedismissaldenied.pdf.

Across years of reporting, I found the Sarah Ehekircher story so compelling – and the various connections of her long swimming and coaching career so resonant with common motifs of corruption in American swimming – that I devoted an entire chapter to it in my new book UNDERWATER: The Greed-Soaked Tale of Sexual Abuse in USA Swimming and Around the Globe..

All those hoping for meaningful reform of the youth sports system should be celebrating the possibility that Sarah might soon have her day in court — nearly four decades after MacFarland first preyed on her.

UNDERWATER’s official publication date is next week. However, copies are already available through many outlets. You can view the table of contents here. Some pre-order links are here.